


Skinny knees

by ClaraCivry (Kat_Of_Dresden)



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Feed this boy something, Five letting them, Fluff, For god's sakes, Gen, He deserves all the food, He's worked so hard, Sibling Bonding, people being worried about Five
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:08:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26129323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Of_Dresden/pseuds/ClaraCivry
Summary: The siblings are concerned about Five, and how skinny he is.Each has their way of making sure he gets food (and family love)
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 393





	Skinny knees

They were all in the kitchen, having dinner, and Five was just having another cup of coffee.

“... have you eaten any real food lately, Five? Or even in the last decade?” Allison didn’t remember seeing Five eat anything solid that wasn’t peanut butter and marshmallows.

“Peanut butter is proper food.” Five argued.

  
”It’s not. Especially for a growing boy. A growing boy who won’t stop running around and saving the world. You need more energy than that, man.” Diego said.

“Yeah, I mean, look at your knees, Fivey-five. They make me want to cry.” Klaus made a face - Five was just so scrawny and small.

“You’re one to talk, Klaus! I can practically count your ribs even with a shirt on.”

“I’m naturally lean, it’s different.”

“Klaus is right, though. Your knees are very sad. You really should eat more, Five.” Diego refused to have the topic be changed.

“I will not take nutrition advice from someone who eats raw eggs on a sink, thank you very much.”

“I can cook, a bit!” Luther enthusiastically added. “I had Grace teach me, in case I had the supplies on the moon, since I was going to have so much time. I can make you something hearty, like a steak and fries, or a nice kilo of pasta.”

“A kilo? Just the notion of that much food is making me feel nauseous.”

Vanya looked at her smallest brother, worried.

“That’s a bit concerning, Five. I know you didn’t eat much in the apocalypse or with the commission, but...”

Five was not having this conversation, and cut Vanya off. He hadn’t died, had he? So he must be doing something right.

“How I feed myself is my concern, and my concern alone, got it? I’m older than all of you, perfectly capable of making my own decisions. And if you have a problem with my knees, you can just not look at them. You think about your own food and let this go.”

*

They refused to let it go, not at least until he looked a bit more... A bit less skeletal. Until they knew he was as healthy and strong as a boy his age should be. It was their job, after all, as siblings who just got back their long lost brother.

They all had their strategies to get him to eat.

Vanya asked him for help when she was cooking, no matter the dish, and suddenly she cooked very often. He was so much smarter, surely he would be able to lend a hand? She just wanted to do something nice for the guys, after that many years of coldness after the book... So yeah, Five helped, for a bit, with the ingredients, measuring... And maybe she asked him to taste things while they were cooking, and maybe he got the biggest piece of whatever it was for having helped.

Klaus just ordered food, industrial quantities of food (I mean, they were seven, and Luther counted like at least three people, right?) and then put on something he knew Five would be interested in, lured him in with dark matter documentaries or bad show that featured time travel. And then he would start eating, and Five would too, because there was no point in wasting all that food, right? No point.

Diego had even done some research, he was so concerned for Five’s knees and his general lightness. He’d looked up the most nutritional food for teenagers and kids “of growing age” and put it in the sandwiches he brought when they went vigilante-ing together on the streets. Healthy, well-balanced, carefully chosen, good portions. You know, so he would keep his energy levels up, wouldn’t run out of fuel in the middle of the night, in the middle of a mission. All very functional and practical. Nothing to do with the fact that he was worried about his brother’s health. At all.

Luther didn’t pretend not to be concerned. He was concerned, but his way of getting Five to eat more wasn’t as subtle as the rest of them. He just made too much food and left plates on the kitchen table, on his room’s door, on the library. Just a plate of pasta, of rice, of fish, carefully cooked, covered by a napkin, with a little paper sign that simply said “Five”.

Allison invited Five to eat out a lot, to all kinds of restaurants. “Let’s meet Claire at this italian place”, “There’s some issues with my accounts I’m worried about, and you’re good with numbers, can we meet at this bistro to talk about it?”, “Klaus and I are going to this new thai place, you must come with us, it’s to die for.” She didn’t mind the money, or the having to move around when maybe she’d rather be at home. Five was tricky to handle, and any strategy that had a chance of working was worth the sacrifice.

Ben’s strategy was unique to him.

“I miss eating so much, Five.” he would say “Eat those strawberries and describe them to me?”

Sometimes it was fruit, sometimes it was chocolate, but every time Five was supposed to give him a good thorough report, and it had to be him because he was more eloquent and had a better vocabulary than the rest of them.

Of course, Five could see through all of this tricks and strategies, and often didn’t want to eat.

It would be a while until he stopped being so light, until his knees were more acceptable.

But after nearly his whole life surviving on scraps, on refuse, on things that were barely edible, the fact that people would cook for him, or buy him food... Well, it really meant a lot.

This didn’t actually mean that he would eat raw eggs, no matter how much Diego sold them, no matter how nutritious and a shot of pure protein and energy they were.

He may have eaten bugs, but the line had to be drawn somewhere.

**Author's Note:**

> Me, writing even more nonsensical "the guys look after Five and are gentle and soft with him"? Is more likely than you think. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for making it here, if you enjoyed would love to hear from you!
> 
> You know you want to comment ;)


End file.
